Chapter 80: Difficulties

Chen Qiyu had spent many years in officialdom and knew all its ins and outs perfectly well. He hadn't expected to get much from this selfish, greedy lot, so after the contributions were made, he lavished praise on the gentry who had generously opened their purses, saying he would post public notices showing exactly where everyone's donated money and grain would be used, so that all could see their silver spent transparently, and that he would memorialize the court to commend everyone's righteous deeds — all such official platitudes. The gentry and wealthy merchants in turn gave full affirmation to His Excellency's lofty image of wholehearted devotion to the people and incorruptible integrity, expressing that they would closely unite around the Governor and make their due contribution to jointly building a prosperous and beautiful new Fengyang.

Everyone knew full well that though it was called contributing to aid the people, this was really just a welcome gift for the Governor. As for where this money and grain would end up, they cared not in the least — so long as the Governor remembered them, that was enough.

Chen Qiyu declined the gentry's banquet invitations on the grounds of pressing official business, and the crowd took their leave of the Governor's yamen. Li Qimei and Chen Liangmo remained behind.

Chen Liangmo was around thirty years of age. He had passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Chongzhen and remained at court to observe governance in the Ministry of Personnel; a year later he was appointed Supervising Secretary of the Revenue Section. Upright and outspoken by nature, he had repeatedly submitted memorials impeaching Grand Secretaries Wen Tiren, Wang Yingxiong, Zhang Zhifa and other senior ministers for holding high office while doing nothing, and was regarded by the assembled Grand Secretaries as a representative thorn in their side. Together with Chang Ziyu, a Supervising Secretary of the War Section equally famed for bold speech, he was dubbed the "Twin Walls of the Censorate," and his reputation at court was considerable. This time Chongzhen had personally selected him to serve in Fengyang, clearly with the intent of assessing him for greater responsibility.

Chen Liangmo clasped his hands to Chen Qiyu, who sat in the seat of honor, and said: "Your Excellency the Governor, this subordinate and Your Excellency have both recently arrived at our posts in Fengyang and have yet to gain a thorough understanding of local sentiment and conditions. How we should proceed from here, I beg Your Excellency to instruct."

Chen Qiyu smiled and said: "This official is like you, Chen — utterly ignorant of Fengyang. If a workman wishes to do good work, he must first sharpen his tools. This official believes we should make our plans only after personally investigating the situation. Li, you have long served in Fengyang and know the people here in great detail. If you have any views to offer, speak frankly by all means. We have both been entrusted by the court to govern this region, so naturally we must work with one mind and achieve results together, so as not to disappoint His Majesty's high hopes for us!"

Li Qimei was a jinshi of the third year of Tianqi who had languished long in local prefectural and county posts, and was a man of consummate cunning. He was indifferent to Chen Qiyu's arrival. Every successive Governor of Fengyang had treated the post as a stepping stone; the greatest duty during one's tenure was to build good relations with the local gentry, entangling with one another to weave one's network of connections ever tighter. As for whether the common people lived or died, whether the court's taxes were collected — none of that mattered. So long as one's connections were sound and one had voices at court speaking for one, when the three-year term was up, one simply went elsewhere to make one's fortune.

Li Qimei clasped his hands and said: "This subordinate has served in the Fengyang prefectural post for four years now, and can claim some understanding of local customs and conditions. The land is barren and produces nothing; the people are slippery and hard to govern. The gentry, however, cooperate quite readily with court decrees. Since Your Excellency the Governor has only just arrived and wishes to achieve some administrative accomplishments, this subordinate feels it would be best to maintain close relations with the gentry who contributed just now."

Chen Liangmo sneered: "What Li says betrays the duty of a parent to the people of Fengyang! This official believes that one who governs a region must naturally bring benefit to its people. If the government treats the people as bandits, then the people will surely treat the government as robbers! When Li says the common folk of Fengyang are slippery and hard to govern, setting aside natural disasters, I suspect there is more than a hint of man-made calamity involved! The gentry keep households full of servants and spend their days feasting and singing, yet not a single coin from the produce of their lands enters the state treasury. The common people, with only enough land to barely fill their bellies, must bear both the disasters of heaven and the burden of accumulated rents and taxes. Under such crushing weight, merely fleeing to other regions is already an act of desperation! If things go as they have in the Shan-Shaan region, with the instigation of those with ulterior motives, I fear even greater calamity may erupt!"

Though the rank of a Regional Inspector Censor was not high, he bore the duty of overseeing local officials and had the right to memorialize the Emperor directly. Chen Liangmo dared to curse even Grand Secretaries — how much less would he fear a mere Prefect? When he heard Li Qimei describe the subjects under his charge as slippery and hard to govern, anger flared at once. He came from poverty; his father had died when he was young, and his widowed mother had raised him and his elder brother by working as a servant for wealthy households. From childhood Chen Liangmo had been bright and studious; his mother had scraped together money from here and there, skimping and saving to support his education and advancement, until he passed the jinshi examination and entered officialdom.

His innate sympathy for the weak and common folk, together with the hardships he had witnessed his mother endure since childhood, gave him a natural hostility toward those so-called gentry. He believed the common people were all simple and good-natured; so long as local officials governed fairly and the people had enough to eat and wear, they would never resist any decree of the court, reasonable or not.

Chen Liangmo's rebuke left Li Qimei deeply embarrassed. Though he was a high official of the fourth rank, he had no superior-subordinate relationship with a seventh-rank Censor. Regional Inspector Censors were dispatched to the localities by the court and answered directly to the Censorate; for a Censor to censure a local official was entirely proper and legitimate. Little did he know that had he rebutted a few more sentences, Chen Liangmo was already prepared to leap upon him and beat him.

Though Chen Qiyu was also dissatisfied with Li Qimei's reply, he had no desire to see the conflict between the two men made public. Both were court officials, and an open falling-out would lose face for the court. He spoke up: "Though Chen's words may be somewhat one-sided, they are not without reason. We govern a region, and whether gentry or common folk, we must treat all alike. The people living in peace and contentment is something both the court and the gentry wish to see. Let the two of you cease your dispute. Each should attend to his own duties, think of solutions, and turn the situation in Fengyang around as quickly as possible!"

Chen Liangmo said: "This subordinate will naturally do his duty to the fullest. Beginning tomorrow, I will travel to each county to investigate public sentiment and conditions. If anyone commits unlawful acts in the name of the government, I will memorialize the court and impeach him!"

Li Qimei clasped his hands and said: "This subordinate will duly keep Your Excellency the Governor's words in mind. There is still official business at the prefectural yamen, and this subordinate would like to take his leave first to return and attend to it. Does Your Excellency the Governor have any further instructions?"

Chen Qiyu smiled and said: "Prefect, please return. This official also has matters to attend to. If anything arises, I will send someone to inform you."

Li Qimei rose, bowed with clasped hands, and withdrew from the Governor's yamen, then boarded his official sedan and returned to the Prefect's yamen.

After Li Qimei had gone, Chen Qiyu spoke: "Shiliang, why were you so hasty just now? Li Qimei has long served in Fengyang and is as familiar with the local gentry as with his own family! Do you think I don't know the ins and outs of it? The reason His Majesty selected the two of us to come here is stability! All else must not be rushed — it is best to proceed slowly and carefully!"

Chen Liangmo clasped his hands and said: "Governor, this subordinate truly cannot abide such bureaucratic talk and conduct! This subordinate believes that since we have been favored with His Majesty's trust, we should act with bold strokes and press boldly forward! Root out the old abuses, implement measures that benefit the people — how can we play at empty pleasantries with such men?"

Chen Qiyu sighed: "This official too wishes to accomplish something, but the situation at present is turbulent and unstable. Fengyang has already been ravaged by the roving bandits, and the Imperial Ancestral Tomb has been burned. With hearts unsettled and fearful, calming the people must be our first priority! At present the Dashing Bandit and the Offering Bandit are both roaming the Central Plains. This official judges their intent to be that in the not-too-distant future, the Dashing Bandit will again invade the Southern Metropolitan Region. Fengyang has no city walls to defend — when that time comes, I fear it will be another catastrophe!"

When Chen Liangmo had served as Supervising Secretary of the Revenue Section, he had already come to admire Chen Qiyu, then Governor-General of the Five Provinces, immensely. Though he regretted the anticlimactic end of his tenure, it did not diminish his respect for Chen Qiyu's strategic and tactical acumen. Hearing Chen Qiyu say the roving bandits would likely come east again, Chen Liangmo had not the slightest doubt — he trusted Chen Qiyu's analysis and judgment.

He clasped his hands and said: "What plans does the Governor have? If the roving bandits come to Fengyang again, the local guard station troops alone will hardly be able to resist them. The gentry and great households, learning of the news in advance, will naturally flee with their entire families to other places — but what are the common people to do? Once they are swept up and forced to join the bandits, the bandits' strength will grow, and the entire Southern Metropolitan Region may suffer disaster!"

Chen Qiyu said: "Other than leading troops to repel them, there is no alternative. This official has already sent dispatches to the Ministry of War in Nanjing, requesting that troops be sent from Nanjing to aid us. This official had originally wished, in accordance with His Majesty's commission, to recruit labor to build irrigation works and open wasteland for cultivation, so that the people under our governance might have a bit more grain to fill their bellies. As things stand now, that will have to be set aside for the time being."

Chen Liangmo said: "What does the Governor intend to do?"

"Sharpen the spear on the eve of battle, as they say. This official plans to use the money and grain raised from this appeal, together with silver from the prefectural treasury, plus the several thousand taels my family brought with me, to recruit and train soldiers, to relieve the crisis to come!"

Chen Liangmo shook his head: "The roving bandits are right at hand. I fear there is no time for the Governor to train troops. What combat effectiveness can newly recruited soldiers have in such haste? This subordinate feels we must rely primarily on the regular army. I also believe this matter should be laid before His Majesty — I trust that with His Majesty's wisdom, he will make the proper decision!"

Chen Qiyu had not failed to consider memorializing Chongzhen to state his judgment. But whenever he thought of how the Emperor, in his grace, had plucked him directly from prison to the high post of Governor of a region, he felt this debt of recognition was one he could hardly repay. Having arrived in Fengyang without achieving a single merit, to immediately stretch out his hand to the Emperor begging for money, grain, and troops — this his pride could not accept. It would also make the Emperor think him unequal to his post. And his ambition was by no means limited to a mere governorship. "To settle the empire's affairs for his lord, to win fame that outlives his mortal frame" — this line of Xin Jiaxuan's was precisely the direction he strove toward.